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U.S. Markets Begin Week on High Note

U.S. Markets
U.S. markets began the week on a high note, as all three major indexes jumped into the green soon after trading opened on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite were all on the rise despite news that voters rejected Italy's constitution-reform referendum on Sunday. U.S. markets have shown no signs of slowing down as investors continue to show optimism toward the proposed policies of President-elect Donald Trump. Steady economic growth throughout the country has many expecting the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time since last December when they meet next week.

William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, stated that the Fed is inching closer to achieving its policy goals, which include rate hikes, but emphasized that monetary and fiscal policies should not work at "cross purposes" but rather share similar initiatives.

Stocks on the Move
Many have already speculated that Apple (AAPL) is working on the creation of autonomous vehicles, and the company may have further supported those beliefs after writing a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The letter, sent from Apple's director of product integrity Steve Kenner, stated how the company is investing in the fields of automation and machine learning, including their presence in transportation.

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Hilton's (HLT) shares were on the rise Monday after its board approved the spin-off of the company's Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare businesses. All stock transactions are expected to be completed on Jan. 3 of next year. Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the tickers PK and HGV on Jan. 4. Hilton shares have been up 18% so far this year.

Foreign Markets
Asian markets began the week in the red on Monday as major indexes across the region were down following news coming out of Italy. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed the day down 0.82%, while Australia's S&P/ASX experienced a similar drop of 0.80%. Markets fared no better in China as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.26% and 1.21%, respectively.

The declines seen in the Asian markets were due in part to Italy's prime minister announcing his resignation after voters declined proposed changes to the country's legislature. Matteo Renzi had hoped that the constitutional reform would create measures, such as making it easier to pass laws, that would make the country more competitive. Investors turned toward safe-haven assets after news that the reform was rejected.

While Italian stocks fell Monday after the astounding rejection of Renzi's constitutional referendum, other markets throughout Europe were fairly stable. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index and the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 Index were on pace to close the day in the green. International markets will wait to see how Italy and the rest of the eurozone will react in the coming days.